Burn
by LadyLinus
Summary: A prank goes a little too far.


_Don't cry. You're not a kid, grown ups don't cry about little things like this._

"Ash, it's gonna sting for a couple seconds, but I promise this will take a lot of the pain out," Brock's voice consoled from behind him.

_Don't cry._

But oh, he wanted to. Never before had he been burnt so badly, and Ash Ketchum wanted nothing more than to let loose with a river of tears and Brock rubbed a smelly concoction over his bright red skin. He sucked in a deep breath through his clenched teeth and glanced up at Misty.

She was sitting a few feet away from the boys in a rare moment of silence, biting her bottom lip, her gaze firmly glued on her folded hands.

"You're going to live," Brock started as he wiped off his hands, "They're pretty bad, but not serious. I'll keep putting the salve on morning and night and when we get to the next town we'll have a doctor check you out."

"Thanks Brock," Ash smiled then glanced back at Misty who was still trying to avoid them, a point she was proving by looking everywhere but in their direction.

"What do you think her punishment should be?" the older boy asked smirking slightly.

"Punishment?" Ash and Misty had played pranks on each other before and Brock usually just ignored them.

"Yeah, punishment, you could have been seriously hurt and she knows better than this,"

Ash's gaze landed on Misty one last time before he rolled his eyes, "I dunno, whatever you think will do the most damage. I'm going to go lie in the shade and try to take a nap." He stood gingerly and hobbled over to the oak tree Pikachu was sitting under.

"Please don't yell," as Ash lowered himself onto the cool grass, he heard Misty address Brock in a timid tone.

"No promises," Brock retorted causing Ash to smile, shutting his eyes against the sun's glare and slowing his breathing.

"Cooking oil?" Brock asked incredulously of the red head, "What on earth made you think that would be a good idea, a safe idea?"

"I didn't think-" she started.

"Of course you didn't think! It's obvious that you didn't think. Misty, don't you understand that Ash could have been hurt? I know that you would never hurt him on purpose, but seriously, you had to have known that this wouldn't end well."

"I'm sorry," Misty murmured, as Ash finally let himself fall asleep.

***

"Ash?"

His eyes opened slowly and met with his friend's blue-green ones. Ash's gaze flicked from his surroundings, a pink and purple sky showing the day's late hour, back to Misty's face. Her cheeks were slightly pink and her eyes held a red tint around their rims.

"Where's Brock?" Ash asked knowing that their third companion would want to torture him with his burn relief again.

"Away…getting firewood I think," Misty mumbled breaking contact with Ash's eyes.

"Oh…" he was at a loss, unsure of what to say to her.

"Does it hurt?" she asked, her expression full of concern as she rocked back onto her heels and pulled her knees against her chest.

"No, I'm a lot tougher than a stupid sun burn," Ash lied in an attempt to save face.

"I'm sorry."

"What?" he wasn't sure that he had heard her right. Was Misty Williams, Waterflower of Cerulean City, really apologizing to him?

"I'm sorry. I knew that putting cooking oil on you instead of sunscreen would make you burn faster, but I didn't know that it would be so bad. I'm sorry." she really looked distraught about the whole thing.

"That's okay, I forgive you," he smiled; ready to say whatever she wanted to get her back to normal.

"Misty!" Brock's shout broke their quiet conversation as she sprang to her feet in fear, "I said 15 feet!"

"I apologized!" she protested.

"I don't care," the darker friend said walking over to them and grabbing Misty roughly by the shoulders, pushing her toward the other side of their camp.

"Ash forgave me!"

"I still don't care, I said 15 feet and it's going to stay 15 feet until I say otherwise," he pushed down slightly, forcing her to sit down, "If you keep this up I'll decide you can't even look at him."

Misty crossed her arms over her chest and pouted but didn't say anything else.

Brock turned on his heel and sent Ash a wink leaving the young trainer wondering what had gone on while he was asleep, and why Brock thought that the worst punishment for Misty was to stay away from Ash.


End file.
